Well, hello there. My name is Morgan Harper-Nichols. I'm an artist and a writer, and this is a space where I share words that I hope can make a little room for you to slow down and take a few deep breaths as you prepare for whatever lies ahead. Thanks for being here today. And now on to today's episode. Whenever you start to feel overwhelmed,

you might also feel stuck when it comes to trying to figure out how to get out of that place.

Now, I may not know the ends and outs of everything you have on your list this

week, but I do know we all have this in common. At some point, we were all younger. We were all

kids. And when we were kids, we either did things or wanted to do things that gave us a sense of

joy, peace, and curiosity. We may not have used those

words, and unfortunately far too many people have had to grow up too quickly, and we're not able

to experience those childlike things. But no matter where you fall on that spectrum, I just

hope you know that there is still time. There is still

time to do small things that can help soften your heart into joy, peace, curiosity, play,

creativity, rest, and whatever else you need. Right here, right now, even in the smallest ways.

So may today be one of those days. You engage in something childlike. Make room for doodles

in the margins of the page you're writing on. Allow yourself to rise above the volume of your perfectly

practiced indoor voice. Order that pizza. Take a nap. Go outside and lay in the grass.

At any given moment, there's a child somewhere in the world who would enjoy or benefit from doing this very simple

thing. And at some point in your life, you were that child. You were that child craving to change

things up. You were that child in relentless pursuit of escaping the boredom. You were once that

child who is curious and open to possibilities

even on the most ordinary days. And the good news is that childlike version of you is still within

you. And it's never too late to do more of those things that would make your childhood self smile. It is never too late to

engage in activities that grown-ups tend to overlook or forget about. It's never too late to do things

that make you smile even if it's just for a moment. The reason why it's so important that we give ourselves permission

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